Must-see attractions in Northwestern Cambodia

  • Banteay Chhmar castle cambodia; Shutterstock ID 709420321; your: Sloane Tucker; gl: 65050; netsuite: Online Editorial; full: POI
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    Banteay Chhmar

    Northwestern Cambodia

    Beautiful, peaceful and covered in astonishingly intricate bas-reliefs, Banteay Chhmar is one of the most impressive temple complexes beyond the Angkor…

  • the Khmer Temples of Prsat Preah Vihear north of the town Sra Em in the province of Preah Vihear in Northwest Cambodia. Cambodia, Sra Em, November, 2017,
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    Prasat Preah Vihear

    Northwestern Cambodia

    The most dramatically situated of all Angkorian monuments, Prasat Preah Vihear sprawls along a clifftop near the Thai border, with breathtaking views of…

  • Preah Khan Kompong svay ruins.

    Preah Khan of Kompong Svay

    Northwestern Cambodia

    For tantalising lost-world ambience, this remote temple complex about 90km south of Preah Vihear City can't be beaten. It's wrapped by vines and trees,…

  • Entrance to ancient Preah Khan temple in Angkor, Siem Reap, Cambodia.

    Preah Khan Main Temple

    Northwestern Cambodia

    The main temple is surrounded by a (now dry) moat similar to the one around Angkor Thom. Once through the grand gateway, the trail meanders past a…

  • Chong Kos Floating Village

    Northwestern Cambodia

    Much less visited than other floating villages near Siem Reap, the Tonlé Sap River hamlet of Chong Kos is a Cambodian village of colourful wooden houses,…

  • Romcheik 5 Artspace

    Battambang

    Expanded from a workshop into a bona fide gallery in 2015, this impressive space has a permanent collection upstairs displaying the edgy, contemporary…

  • Sambor Prei Kuk temple ruins.

    Sambor Prei Kuk

    Northwestern Cambodia

    Cambodia’s most impressive group of pre-Angkorian monuments, Sambor Prei Kuk encompasses more than 100 mainly brick temples scattered through the forest,…

  • View of surrounding countryside from Phnom Sampeou.

    Phnom Sampeau

    Northwestern Cambodia

    This fabled limestone outcrop 12km southwest of Battambang along NH57 (towards Pailin) is known for its gorgeous views and mesmerising display of bats,…

  • A one hundred year old Cambodian house built in the traditional Khmer style in Wat Kor Village, Battambang, Cambodia.

    Wat Kor Village

    Battambang

    About 2km south of central Battambang, the village of Wat Kor is centred around the temple of the same name. It's a great place to wander, especially late…

  • Vulture landing on a cow in Veal Krous Vulture Feeding Station, Cambodia.

    Veal Krous Vulture Feeding Station

    Northwestern Cambodia

    In order to save three critically endangered species – the white-rumped, slender-billed and red-headed vultures – the Wildlife Conservation Society (www…

  • Prasat Banan temple in Battambang, Cambodia.

    Prasat Banan

    Northwestern Cambodia

    It's a 358-stone-step climb up Phnom Banan to reach Prasat Banan, but the incredible views across surrounding countryside from the top are worth it…

  • Wat Ek Phnom.

    Wat Ek Phnom

    Northwestern Cambodia

    Hidden behind a colourful modern pagoda and a gargantuan Buddha statue is this atmospheric, partly collapsed 11th-century temple. Wat Ek Phnom measures…

  • Prasat Tor, ancient pagoda at Sambor Prei Kuk, Kampong Thom (Kompong Thom), Cambodia.

    Prasat Tor

    Northwestern Cambodia

    The largest of the Sambor Prei Kuk temple complexes, Prasat Tor has excellent examples of Chenla carving in the form of two large, elaborately coiffed…

  • Prasat Phnom Banan Winery

    Northwestern Cambodia

    Midway between Battambang and Prasat Banan, in an area known for its production of chilli peppers (harvested from October to January), Cambodia’s only…

  • Kulen Promtep Wildlife Sanctuary

    Northwestern Cambodia

    One of the last places on earth where you can see Cambodia’s national bird, the critically endangered giant ibis. Trips here are run by the Siem Reap…

  • Prasat Yeai Poeun

    Northwestern Cambodia

    Prasat Yeai Poeun is arguably the most atmospheric of Sambor Prei Kuk's three temple groups, as it feels lost in the forest. The eastern gateway is being…

  • Prasat Preah Stung

    Northwestern Cambodia

    About 2km west of Preah Khan's baray stands Prasat Preah Stung (known to locals as Prasat Muk Buon or Temple of the Four Faces). It's particularly…

  • Phnom Santuk

    Northwestern Cambodia

    Its forest-cloaked summit adorned with Buddha images and a series of pagodas, this holy temple mountain (207m) 15km south of Kompong Thom is a popular…

  • Santuk Silk Farm

    Northwestern Cambodia

    Santuk Silk Farm is one of the few places in Cambodia where you can see the entire process of silk production, starting with the seven-week life cycle of…

  • Wat Somrong Knong

    Battambang

    About 4km north of Battambang, Wat Somrong Knong was built in the 19th century on the site of a pre-Angkorian temple complex. The Khmer Rouge used the…

  • Ondong Rossey

    Northwestern Cambodia

    The quiet village of Ondong Rossey, where the area’s famous red pottery is made under every stilted house, is a delightful 7km ride west of town through…

  • Kamping Puoy

    Northwestern Cambodia

    Also known as the Killing Dam, Kamping Puoy was one of the many grandiose Khmer Rouge projects intended to recreate the sophisticated irrigation networks…

  • Ta Mok’s House

    Northwestern Cambodia

    On a peaceful lakeside site, Ta Mok's house is a spartan structure with a bunker in the basement, five simple wall murals downstairs (one of Angkor Wat,…

  • Wat Phnom Yat

    Northwestern Cambodia

    From NH57, stairs lead through a garish gate up to Wat Phnom Yat, a psychedelic temple centred on an ancient po (sacred fig) tree. A 27m Buddha looms over…

  • Phnom Khieu Waterfall

    Northwestern Cambodia

    Phnom Khieu is the most accessible of the numerous waterfalls dropping out of the Cardamoms south of Pailin, and has water year-round. To get here, turn…

  • Phoum Kandal Floating Village

    Northwestern Cambodia

    The Tonlé Sap River hamlet of Phoum Kandal is an ethnic Vietnamese village of brightly painted wooden houses, all floating on rickety homemade pontoons or…

  • Battambang Museum

    Battambang

    This petite provincial museum has been given a full makeover thanks to the generous support of Friends of Khmer Culture (FOKC; www.khmerculture.net) and…

  • Phnom Samkos Wildlife Sanctuary

    Northwestern Cambodia

    Sandwiched between the Central Cardamoms National Park and the Thai frontier, the Phnom Samkos Wildlife Sanctuary (3338 sq km) is well and truly out in…

  • Mrs Bun Roeung's Ancient House

    Battambang

    Built of now-rare hardwoods almost a century ago and surrounded by an orchard garden, Mrs Bun Roeung's Ancient House has a wide verandah and exudes the…

  • Khor Sang House

    Battambang

    Khor Sang House is one of a clutch of surviving traditional Khmer houses in Wat Kor village, with floors worn lustrous by a century of bare feet…

  • Phnom Aural Wildlife Sanctuary

    Northwestern Cambodia

    This 2538-sq-km sanctuary has the country's highest peak, Phnom Aural (1813m), and is just east of the Central Cardamoms National Park. Unfortunately the…

  • Banteay Top

    Northwestern Cambodia

    Banteay Top (Fortress of the Army) may be small, but its impressively tall, damaged towers are highly photogenic. Constructed around the same time as…

  • Cambodia Peace Gallery

    Battambang

    This small museum tells the big story of Cambodia's long journey from war to peace. Exhibits are well presented in a series of buildings in the spacious…

  • Prasat Kuha Nokor

    Northwestern Cambodia

    This 11th-century temple, constructed during the reign of Suryavarman I, is in extremely good condition thanks to a lengthy renovation before the civil…

  • Governor's Residence

    Battambang

    The two-storey Governor's Residence, with its balconies and wooden shutters, is a handsome legacy of the early 1900s. The interior is now open to the…

  • Kompong Chhnang Airport

    Northwestern Cambodia

    The Khmer Rouge's never-operational Kompong Chhnang Airport, built between 1977 and 1978 by slave labour, was probably intended to serve as a base for…

  • Prasat Ta Prohm

    Northwestern Cambodia

    Prasat Ta Prohm is the easiest of Banteay Chhmar's nine satellite temples to visit. This small ruined temple is topped by a well-preserved example of a…

  • Prasat Sambor

    Northwestern Cambodia

    The principal temple group, Prasat Sambor (7th and 10th centuries) is dedicated to Gambhireshvara, one of Shiva’s many incarnations (the other groups are…

  • Bunrany Hun Sen Development Center

    Northwestern Cambodia

    This centre, named after the Prime Minister's wife, teaches cloth and mat weaving, sewing, marble carving and other artisanal skills to young people, and…

  • Kompong Thom Museum

    Northwestern Cambodia

    This seriously bijou museum (it's one room and a small outdoor gallery) actually packs a pretty good punch with statuary and stelae from local sites,…